476 



SATTK 



[b. a. e. 



flags which Your Grace recovered from 

 the Sac and Pus [Potawatomi] tribes, as 

 I have said, thej' were replaced on this 

 occasion." These extracts show the good 

 effect of the Spanish policy in restraining 

 the extreme western tribes from follow- 

 ing English agents against the American 

 colonists. 



Amongthe tribes of the lllinoiscountry, 

 the Sauk in 1769 received presents from 

 the Spaniards. 



In 1766 Carver found the chief town 

 of the Sauk on Wisconsin r., probably on 

 the site of Prairie du Sac; it consisted of 

 about 90 lodges and 300 warriors. 



From the journal of Peter Pond, 1773- 

 75 (Wis. Hist. Coll., xviii, 335 et seq. ), 

 the following citation concerning the 

 habits and customs of the Sauk is made: 

 "These People are Cald Saukeas. They 

 are of a Good Sise and Well Disposed — • 

 Les Inclind to tricks and Bad manners 

 than thare Nighbers. Thay will take of 

 the traders Goods on Creadit in the fall 

 for thare youse. In Winter and Except 

 for Axedant thay Pay the Deapt Verey 

 Well for Indans I mite have sade Inlitend 

 or Sivelised Indans which are in General 

 made worse by the Operation. . . . Sum 

 of thare Huts are Sixtey feet Long and 

 Contanes Several fammalayes. ... In 

 the fall of ye Year thay Leave thare Huts 

 and Go into the Woods in Quest of Game 

 and Return in the Spring to thare Huts 

 before Planting time. The Women Rase 

 Grate Crops of Corn, Been, Punkens, 

 Potatoes, Millans and artikels — the Land 

 is Exaleant — and Clear of Wood Sum 

 Distans from the Villeag. Thare [are] 

 Sum Hundred of Inhabitants. Thare 

 amusmentsare Singing, Dancing, Smoke- 

 ing, Matcheis, Gaming, Feasting, Drink- 

 ing, Playing the Slite of Hand, Hunting 

 and thay are famas in Mageack. Thay 

 are Not Verey Gellas of thare Women. 

 In General the Women find meanes to 

 Grattafy them Selves without Consent of 

 the Men." Pond adds that the Sauk 

 warriors often joined the war parties of 

 neighboring tribes against the Indians on 

 Missouri r. and westward; that some- 

 times they went to the vicinity of Santa 

 Fe, New Mexico, and captured Spanish 

 horses, of which he had seen a large 

 number. 



A Sauk band , which later became known 

 as the Missouri River Sauk, had been for 

 some time in the habit of wintering near 

 the post of St Louis on the Missouri. 

 One winter, about 1804, the head-men of 

 this band were drawn into negotiations 

 with Government officials at the post. It 

 is an open question if these leaders knew 

 what they were doing. At any rate the 

 band became a party to negotiations, 

 which in time were to lead to the undoing 

 of the Sauk and Foxes, by which these 



tribes were to relinquish all claim to terri- 

 tory in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Missouri. 

 The knowledgeof what the Missouri River 

 band had done naturallj' incensed the 

 rest of the people. It was then that the 

 band realized what it had done, but it 

 was too late. Knowing the temper of the 

 people, the band remained away, and it 

 has continued to do so ever since. The 

 Foxes became so angry with the Sauk for 

 letting one of their bands act for all the 

 people that they began at once to draw 

 away from the Sauk, and in the course of 

 a generation thej"^ had moved over into 

 their hunting grounds in Iowa. Other 

 agreements were entered into with the 

 three divisions of these people before the 

 treaty of 1804 was finally carried out. 

 Out of all this, in connection with the 



SAUK MAN 



general unrest of the tribes of this region, 

 arose theso-called Black Hawk war in 1832. 

 It is customary to lay the cause of this con- 

 flict to the refusal of the Sauk to comply 

 with the terms of agreement they had 

 entered into with the Government with 

 reference particularly to the lands on 

 Rock r. in Illinois. Be that as it may, the 

 actual fighting between the Sauk and the 

 Government was of a rather feeble charac- 

 ter. But the fighting between the Sauk 

 on the one hand and the Sioux, Omaha, 

 and Menominee on the other was ex- 

 tremely severe. These tribes, together 

 with the Potawatomi and Winnebago, 

 had previously sent emissaries to the Sauk 

 urging them on to fight the whites and 

 at the same time promising immediate 

 assistance. The Potawatomi were the most 



